Private business ownership
Invest in real businesses. Without running them.
Established Australian businesses that already make money, with managers already in place. Are you interested in an investment built around good private businesses? That is the conversation we have.
Illustrative snapshot
What we invest in
Not a ticker. A business with vans in the yard.
An electrical contracting business on the Central Coast. Twelve years old. Seven electricians, five vans, and a book of maintenance contracts with schools and aged care homes that renews every year.
Last year it made $250,000 — after paying a full-time manager to run it and after replacing two vans. This is the kind of business behind our investment strategy.
Real trading, real customers and financial information you can understand. Our team oversees the businesses, while their managers run the day. Your reporting, rights and any income distributions are set out in the investment documents before you commit.
Illustrative of the businesses we buy.
Why these businesses are available
Australia is about to lose a generation of good businesses
More than 500,000 Australian businesses are owned by someone over 60. Last financial year, 375,331 businesses closed their doors. Most were not sold. They were shut — profitable, working businesses with staff and customers, closed because nobody could buy them.
The reason is simple. Banks will not lend much against a business unless you put your house up. So a willing buyer, standing in front of a good business, usually cannot get the money together.
- — Good businesses. No buyers. Prices that reflect it.
ABS, Counts of Australian Businesses, to June 2026. Ownership age: ASBFEO, 2025–26.
The price
Five years’ profit. An earnings yield of one fifth of the purchase price.
That is the whole idea, and it is worth saying slowly.
The business above makes $250,000 a year. A business like it changes hands at around five years’ profit — so about $1,250,000. At that purchase price, $250,000 of annual business earnings represents a 20% earnings yield.
Business earnings yield at a five-times-profit purchase price
This is acquisition arithmetic, not a forecast of investor income.
Nobody is predicting the business will grow, or that anyone will pay more for it later. If you pay five years’ profit for something, one year’s profit is a fifth of what you paid. That is arithmetic, not optimism. A central question is whether the business keeps earning what it earned last year — which is why we buy businesses with a decade or more of history, a manager already in place, and contracts that renew.
The acquisition principle scales with the capital deployed. Growth and any eventual sale value are not counted in the 20% earnings yield. Investor returns are different: they depend on the investment terms, costs, taxes, financing, retained earnings and distributions.
Profit is stated after paying a full-time manager and after replacing equipment — it is the money genuinely available to owners, not the owner’s wage in disguise. Figures are illustrative of the businesses we buy, not a completed transaction.
The numbers, simply
Five years of earnings at the purchase price
At an unchanged 20% business earnings yield, five years of earnings equal the acquisition price. That does not mean an investor gets their capital back in five years. Earnings may be retained or used for costs, tax, financing and further investment.
$20,000 a year at an unchanged 20% earnings yield
Assumes unchanged business earnings, no growth and no increase in value. These are acquisition-level figures, not cash payments to an investor. Actual returns, tax treatment and distributions depend on the documented investment terms. Illustrative, not a promise.
The same acquisition principle, three amounts
| Capital deployed | Acquisition multiple | Illustrative business earnings | Earnings yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | 5 × profit | $20,000 a year | 20% |
| $250,000 | 5 × profit | $50,000 a year | 20% |
| $500,000 | 5 × profit | $100,000 a year | 20% |
Profit is stated after paying a full-time manager and after replacing equipment — it is the money genuinely available to owners, not the owner’s wage in disguise. Figures are illustrative of the businesses we buy, not a completed transaction.
Compared with the alternatives
Three ways to compare underlying earnings
| What your money buys | Shares | Investment property | Private businesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| You pay, per $1 of annual profit | about $17.50 | — | about $5.00 |
| Income / earnings measure | 3.6% in dividends | 2.2–2.7% rent after costs | 20% business earnings yield at 5 × profit |
| Where the rest of the return comes from | someone paying more than you did | the price going up | trading earnings; investor distributions depend on terms |
| What you can see | a half-yearly announcement | a rental statement | investment reporting as agreed |
| What you can change | nothing | the paint | rights defined in the investment documents |
| How fast you can get out | same day | a few months | years |
On the share market you pay about $17.50 for every dollar a company earns in a year, and it hands you about 3.6% of your money back as dividends. The rest of your return depends on someone else paying more than you did.
On an investment property, rent covers roughly 2.2–2.7% a year once management, rates, insurance, maintenance and vacancy are paid — so that return also depends on the price rising. National values are currently 3.6% below their March peak.
Business earnings can come from trading rather than a rising sale price. They are not the same as cash distributed to investors.
ASX 200 forward earnings and dividend yield, FactSet, Aug 2026. Rental yields and dwelling values, Cotality, Aug 2026. Business pricing reflects the businesses we buy, not an average market price. Business earnings yields are not directly comparable with dividends or net rent paid to investors; investment-level costs and terms also matter.
Practicalities
How much, and how it is paid for
A small group of owners
A personal relationship with our team and the people investing alongside you. Management responsibilities and investor rights are explained before commitment.
Paying for it
Most people use savings, a self-managed super fund, or equity they already have. If it helps, we can introduce you to finance brokers who arrange lending for business purchases. We do not lend to you ourselves and take no fee for the introduction.
Getting out
There is no market in these shares. Exit is governed by the investment documents and any agreed timetable, and it is measured in years. Ask us about it early rather than late.
What can go wrong
This is on the page rather than in a footnote, and above the enquiry form rather than below it, for a reason.
The people who invest with us are the ones who read this and invest anyway.
- — Businesses fail. Some will earn less than they do today, some will stop paying their owners anything, and some will be worth nothing. You can lose every dollar you put in.
- — The 20% illustrates acquisition-level earnings, not an investor distribution or a guarantee of next year’s performance. If trading falls, so does what you are paid — and it can fall a long way.
- — You cannot sell when you feel like it. There is no market in these shares. Getting out depends on the investment terms and can take years.
- — Small private businesses can be concentrated and dependent on key people or contracts. Investing across businesses does not eliminate those risks or guarantee diversification.
- — The price reflects the risk. Businesses change hands at five years’ profit and not seventeen precisely because they are illiquid, concentrated and dependent on a handful of people. You are being paid for accepting that, not getting something for nothing.
- — This is not capital protected, it is not low risk, and it is not for money you might need back.
Why we are on the same side
We keep a fifth, and we charge you nothing
We invest our own money
We buy businesses with our own money and stay invested in what we build. This is not somebody else’s deal we are simply introducing you to. If the businesses perform badly, our capital is exposed too.
We keep 20% of every business
We retain a stake in the businesses we buy. The details of our alignment, your rights and the exit arrangements are set out in writing before you commit.
No fees at all
No management fee, no commission, no success payment. What we earn is the shares we keep and what they pay.
Everything in writing first
Before you commit to anything you get the accounts, the terms, the structure and the risks in writing, to take to your own accountant and solicitor.
We make money the same way you do, and only when you do.
Get in touch
We do not publish opportunities
Leave your details and we will call you to talk about what you are looking for and whether any of this suits you.
Important information
The information on this website is general information only. It has been prepared without taking into account any person’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Nothing on it is personal financial advice, legal advice, taxation advice or accounting advice, and nothing on it is a recommendation that any person acquire, dispose of or invest in any particular business, security or financial product. Nothing here is an offer.
Horvat Capital buys and manages private-business investments. The actual investment structure, investor rights and distribution arrangements are provided in writing before any commitment. It is not your adviser, does not act for you, and does not provide financial product advice. Any opportunity is made available individually, is subject to its own terms, structure, due diligence, eligibility requirements and legal documentation, and is not offered to the public. Registering an interest is not an application and creates no entitlement.
Risk. Private business investment involves significant risk. Businesses can fail, holdings are illiquid, valuations are uncertain, and an investor may lose some or all of the money invested. There is no guarantee of performance, capital preservation, income or return. Past performance does not indicate future performance.
Figures. Every figure on this site is sourced where it appears and was verified at the date shown. Any reference to a business, price, valuation, growth opportunity or return is illustrative only unless expressly stated otherwise and supported by the relevant transaction documents. Prospective investors should obtain independent legal, financial, taxation and accounting advice before proceeding.
Business owners. An enquiry about selling your business is not an offer by us to buy it. Any acquisition is subject to due diligence, negotiation, satisfactory documentation, funding, legal and regulatory requirements and final approval. We may decline any opportunity.
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